5000 series drawbar capacity???

[kentuckydiesel]

I wasn't tyring to put any of those possibilities forward as good answers just cover the range of possibilities. Given that good steel today has yield strengths above 70,000 pounds per square inch I wouldn't expect the bar or the mounting bolts to snap nor would I expect tires to fail.
What I expect happens is that the weight on the bar plus the weight of the base tractor and wheel weights adds up to the maximum rated load for the rear axle and any increase above that will cause excessive wheel bearing wear up to and including wheel bearing failure.

Luckily wheel/tire ballast aid in traction and stability without putting any further strain on the wheel bearings. As far as the wheel bearings are concerned, it would still be like carrying the base tractor with a sub-capacity load on the 3pt hitch.

I don't mean to be offensive toward you in any way, but I am curious to know why people on TBN seem to be so concerned with "wheel bearings". Bearings are wear items, just like brake pads/shoes, engine belts, tires, etc, etc. It especially baffles me when some folks say that they are uncomfortable or have even tipped their tractors over on small side-hills, but they won't space the wheels out because it will strain their "wheel bearings". :0

Just for fun, I just checked JD parts to see what the rear axle bearings cost. Depending on wether both outer and inner bearings/races go bad, I would be looking at $50-$90 per side. Sure beats the cost of buying a new tractor to mow with (especially since my current tractor works great for everything else).


-Phillip

 

[cowski]

i have a 5510 with the wheels set all the way out.it increases stability.i also have the cast rears with wheel weights and power reverser.it is a great tractor on a hay and cattle farm.

 

[kentuckydiesel]

i have a 5510 with the wheels set all the way out.it increases stability.i also have the cast rears with wheel weights and power reverser.it is a great tractor on a hay and cattle farm.

Sounds like a nice setup. I sure would like to have the 4cyl and power reverser.
I'm currently planning to switch my tractor over from the collar shift to the TSS tranny (changing to hydraulic reverser would force me to just about replace the whole tractor)....and if this 3cyl ever goes south, I'm gonna put the 4cyl in.

-Phillip

 

[vtsnowedin]

I don't mean to be offensive toward you in any way, but I am curious to know why people on TBN seem to be so concerned with "wheel bearings". Bearings are wear items, just like brake pads/shoes, engine belts, tires, etc, etc. It especially baffles me when some folks say that they are uncomfortable or have even tipped their tractors over on small side-hills, but they won't space the wheels out because it will strain their "wheel bearings". :0




-Phillip

None taken. I'm not too worried about bearing wear myself but it is a possible method of failure as is a broken housing or cracked rim. Much more likely then the other implausible options I put forward. The real danger is that an over loaded tractor will not be able to hold back the load going down grade and run away on the operator causing a crash. A towed load that puts more then 1600 lbs tongue weight on a draw bar probably weighs more then the tractor plus ballast and once you pitch over the top of the hill gravity is not your friend.
For myself I'm having my 5045E set out as wide as it will go with four inch hub extensions. In fact I'm waiting on sixteen bolts they didn't realise they needed to order to attach them. Beginning to have a bad feeling about this dealer. Mechanic didn't know the proper way to measure tread width so now I have to wonder what else he doesn't know and how much that will cost me.

 

[kentuckydiesel]

The real danger is that an over loaded tractor will not be able to hold back the load going down grade and run away on the operator causing a crash. A towed load that puts more then 1600 lbs tongue weight on a draw bar probably weighs more then the tractor plus ballast and once you pitch over the top of the hill gravity is not your friend.

Very true if it was a tandem or tri-axle equipment trailer with most of the weight on the trailer axles and no trailer brakes. In the case of a rotary cutter tho, their wheels are all the way to the rear which puts almost half of the total weight on the tractor itself. This is good for traction. If I were to start out with a 8000lb tractor and a 6000lb cutter, I would end up with about 11,000 lbs on the tractor's treads (which is not too much), and about 3000lbs on the cutter's wheels.

For myself I'm having my 5045E set out as wide as it will go with four inch hub extensions. In fact I'm waiting on sixteen bolts they didn't realise they needed to order to attach them. Beginning to have a bad feeling about this dealer. Mechanic didn't know the proper way to measure tread width so now I have to wonder what else he doesn't know and how much that will cost me.

I have to agree...I would be disappointed in the dealer if I ordered spacers and didn't get what I needed, but I wouldn't be concerned about the tread width deal. There is no "proper way" to measure. Most of the time people are far more worried about inside to inside measurements and/or outside to outside measurements than they are about center to center. The center to center is nothing more than a reference which covers all tire sizes.

-phillip

 

[vtsnowedin]

Very true if it was a tandem or tri-axle equipment trailer with most of the weight on the trailer axles and no trailer brakes. In the case of a rotary cutter tho, their wheels are all the way to the rear which puts almost half of the total weight on the tractor itself. This is good for traction. If I were to start out with a 8000lb tractor and a 6000lb cutter, I would end up with about 11,000 lbs on the tractor's treads (which is not too much), and about 3000lbs on the cutter's wheels.
I have to agree...I would be disappointed in the dealer if I ordered spacers and didn't get what I needed, but I wouldn't be concerned about the tread width deal. There is no "proper way" to measure. Most of the time people are far more worried about inside to inside measurements and/or outside to outside measurements than they are about center to center. The center to center is nothing more than a reference which covers all tire sizes.

-phillip

The JD manual clearly states that tread width is measured from center of tire to center of tire. that sets the standard. Every other measure is a confusion and has to be properly identified with it's pecular paramiters. If what concerns you is outside edge to outside edge you need to include the tread width of your tires. The fact that the mechanic working on setting up my tractor did not know how to properly measure this dimension leaves me to be very uneasy to say the least.

 

[cowski]

kentuckydiesel on a 15 ft cutter only about 1/3 of the cutter weight will be on the drawbar.you can look up cutter specs ,some manufacturers give the drawbar loads on their cutters.or you can weigh it .on most cutters the drawbar weight will be about a 1/3.

 

[kentuckydiesel]

The JD manual clearly states that tread width is measured from center of tire to center of tire. that sets the standard.....The fact that the mechanic working on setting up my tractor did not know how to properly measure this dimension leaves me to be very uneasy to say the least.

I realize that JD does that, but it is because each different tire size and even the same size in different tire models will have a different tread widths. The one reliable measurement across all tire sizes/models is the center of the tire tread at certain wheel settings.
That said, tractor owners, unlike John Deere, already know what size tires they have. Most of them will tell the dealer/mechanic something like "I want to widen my tractors stance as much as I can without the wheels going out past the edges of my loader bucket or my mower." The dealer will then measure outside to outside of the tires and make the wheel adjustments or get axle extensions which give the owner the outside to outside spacing they desire. Even in setting tractors up to track between crop rows, you still are most concerned with inside to inside and outside to outside measurements. Center to center is nothing more than a reference point.

-Phillip